Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Theo is on the floor reading Melody a book on kittens, so I'm taking a moment to gush! I'm so, so excited! He came home today and for the first time, told me something he did in school! It may not sound like a big deal, but it is to me. He's never told me about his day unprompted before.

He showed me a dance he learned, and then wanted me to do it. Of all things, it was the Macarena! He was so adorable--he even counted to four with each step, which really impressed me. All the while wearing his signature huge smile!

We all know how routine-oriented he is, so I think after enough days of being asked what he did in school today, he finally volunteered the information. Makes me feel like I did something right! Which is a nice feeling, considering all the mom guilt I plague myself with on a daily basis. ;)

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Thanks, Sharon, for making green cupcakes with him! We're so lucky to have you :)

Theo and Melody both love a show called Word World on PBS. Animals put together letters, and once they spell a word, the word turns into the thing. On one recent episode, when the pig spelled P-I-E, the letters became a pie. But he only made one pie, and his friends were sad that they couldn't share. Then he had the brilliant idea to add an S! Once he spelled P-I-E-S, there were pies for everyone! Theo totally got the concept. And all week, he bugged me to make a pie with him.

Saturday we made a three-berry pie, and we even made the crust from scratch! The kitchen was a mess, but it was so worth it. The pie was delicious!

Theo cut out the strips of dough.Yum! Berry pie with vanilla ice cream a la mode!

Monday, March 16, 2009

I say, "How big is Melody?" I lift my arms and say "Soooo big!"This morning, she lifted one arm! She also took both my hands and lifted my arms!

Incidentally, when Theo hears this he says "How little is my doll? So little!" What a sillybutt.

Yesterday Melody clapped in the bath, but she wouldn't do it again so I figured it was a fluke. But today after Joe practiced with her a bit she clapped a few times again! Yes, I cried. I'm terrible that way. Sigh!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Theo got his tap shoes! Miss Kimberly, the dance teacher, told me I should have seen the look on his face when he first put them on and tried them out. That excitement had built up for three weeks! He was beside himself with joy.

She also told me she was shocked--and she emphasized the word shocked-- that he remembered the correct ballet arm position for boys. She said she even forgot, but he remembered from the week before! He puts his hands on his hips while the girls hold their arms out. My little masculine ballerino. :)

I can't report on her measurements yet, but she'll be at the doc tomorrow, so I'll update this. I'm guessing she weighs 19. 5 lbs. We'll see if I'm right. She's a good eater, eating everything from beets to sweet potatoes to whipped cream. All the time and love I put into making her food, forget it. It was her first taste of a McDonald's french fry that had the angels singing. If you could have seen the look on her face! Joe tells me it was the same when he gave her a sample of ice cream. At first she was surprised by the cold, but when the flavor hit her, a smile exploded on her face!

When Melody eats beets, everything turns red. And I do mean EVERYTHING.

Melody knows the words cat, monkey, and glasses. When you say one of these things she looks for it. And she kinda sorta maybe said glasses...well, gass. You can see it in this video.

But she still calls everything and everyone da-da. :)

She loves baths! She practically jumps in when she realizes the water is running. She can't get enough of Theo's toy frog that winds up and spins. Theo always insists that they take their baths together, which is just fine with her! She follows him from room to room. The other day I even caught him reading to his baby sister. He was reading her a lift-the-flap book and lifting the flaps for her and showng her pictures. He told me Melody was his very best friend, and he made a card for her. At the playground this weekend, my friend was holding Melody and took her to the swings, and Theo got very mad when he couldn't find her. "Where's my Melody?" he demanded.He still carries around his Melody doll and mimics with the doll Melody's every move. The doll eats when Melody eats (yes, he does take off his shirt, put the boppy on, and put her to his "boobie") crawls when Melody crawls, and now even bathes with them. He calls it his doll friend. She comes with us on outings and sleeps with him. He wears the doll in the Ergo (my baby carrier) around the house and pushes her in her stroller. Sad to say, but these days she's been replacing Knuffle Bunny.

Melody has taught herself to walk sideways. Holding onto the couch, she can walk from one side to the other! But shen she really wants to get somewhere, speed crawling is her mode of transportation.

Melody adores the cats, but they've finally grown tired of tolerating her baby antics. Bruce took his first swipe at her when she grabbed a handful of fur, and she looked more betrayed than physically hurt. Happily, she forgave him and continues to bounce with excitement when he enters the room.

As you can see from the photos, she looks exactly like Joe. I like seeing my two favorite people share a smile! Besides, my other favorite person, the boy, already looks like me. So fair is fair. :)

Saturday, March 07, 2009

After the museum, we went to a diner and had our first family dinner out where Melody joined us at the table! She sat in a highchair and ate chicken and crackers. Theo loved having her sit with us. The kids were both so well behaved. Well, except for when Theo mixed his milk with his water. But at least he drank it!

Friday, March 06, 2009

Theo loved making a birthday card for Uncle Elliot on Sunday. Since then, he's been cutting out squares and writing our names and giving them to us! I'm accumulating a collection of "mommy" cards, "daddy" cards, and "Melody" cards. Sometimes he'll staple pieces of paper together to make a card. He's pretty obsessed with stapling lately, too.

But the card thing is indicative of how sweet he is. No one told him to make us cards; he really enjoys the act of giving. Sharon says he makes cards for her at her house, too! And that his "S" is backwards...so cute. :)

And I should also add that he's getting really good at writing his letters!

Theo is the most fun when we're out. He's at his cutest, most charming out, probably because he's always so excited to be out with us and not shipped off to school. Joe and I both had one-on-one dates with him. Joe took him to see the Gazillion Bubbles Show--they both wore sportsjackets for this theatrical experience. But that's Joe's story to tell. Here's an account of my date with my boy.

We grabbed hot chocolate for the train ride. Or as Theo put it--"I'll have hot chocolate, and you have tea, mommy!" Theo and I headed to Bryant Park for his first ever ice skating attempt. I've never seen anyone have so much fun falling! He never did get the hang of it, but we still had a blast. The next day I was incredibly sore--I didn't even realize how hard I worked my muscles by trying to keep him upright.

After a McDonald's lunch, we headed for the Museum of Natural History. We visited the Butterfly Conservatory. He was in awe! He really was. I didn't expect it. I also didn't expect the butterflies to be as enormous as they were! They were magnificent.

After that, we participated in a planetarium focus group. We had to watch a boring planetarium screening on a tiny TV..he was a good boy during that half hour. After answering questions, we were released with 4 free tickets back to the museum, planetarium, and all the special exhibits! Sweeeet.A rhino! Or at least he used to be...

We visited all the animals, and he was mildly interested, but by then he was so exhausted he wanted to go home. Even the dinosaur skeletons weren't enough to keep him awake. So, next time we'll start with that.Before we left, he picked out a cute book on caterpillars and butterflies from the gift shop. It was a truly magical date. I love spending one on one time with my little sweetheart. He's a great kid.

Theo was so beautiful and elegant doing yoga with me, and enjoyed it so much, that I decided to enroll him in dance. (I confess I also had just seen Billy Elliot on Broadway and pictured Theo with his long, lovely body in dance clothes and ballet shoes). He's taking a ballet/tap class once a week. So far he loves it! There is one other boy in his class. He doesn't have his shoes yet, but he's particularly excited to get his tap shoes! And they have a little recital in June--it's going to be so adorable.

The first time I saw him in class, spinning across the floor, arms out with a smile on his face, my heart jumped! And he did kicks across the floor with his characteristic focused face; It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I'm really glad we're doing this. I'm so proud of how well he did; he kept up with most of the girls who had been in the class since September.

Mom's also going to start piano lessons with him Monday, and he begins tee ball in the Spring. The idea is for him to have fun above all, be well rounded and find something he's really good at. I think it's important to develop something, whatever it turns out to be. The worst thing that could happen to Theo is for him to get lost. He works best when engaged. A neurologist told us that a couple of years ago, and it's very true. He needs to go to the zoo, the museum, see shows, do projects--keep his mind active as much as possible. This is true for all kids of course, but Theo really requires the sensory experiences. And he's a very visual learner, so the more he sees, the better.

This will be a quickie since, um, oops--Melody will be 9 months in 4 days! But I remember she got her 5th tooth on Valentine's Day and the 6th tooth right after. She was 18.5 pounds, and as you can see, standing very nicely!